Join me for a walk around the E13 postcode boundary.
E15
E7
E13
E6
E16
Plaistow's not everyone's idea of fun, but a 6½ mile clockwise circumnavigation isn't entirely without interest. I'll kick off at the tube station (halfway down the left-hand edge) to give you a vague hope of following the route.
n.b. You can see postcode boundaries by typing a postcode district into Google and checking the associated map. But these aren't always 100% accurate around the edges - E13's red line isn't - so Streetmap is usually a more reliable option.
Plaistow tube station's ticket hall is in E13 but its platforms are in E15. This isn't as perverse as it sounds. Postcodes are a Royal Mail invention based on street frontage and delivery rounds, so geographical anomalies are commonplace. A further complication in this case is the original parish boundary between Stratford and Plaistow which was particularly tortuous in these parts, which is why we're about to set off on a convoluted zigzag through the backstreets. A long Victorian terrace, a jolly primary school, a modern estate centred around a tower block and a spit'n'sawdust pub are all ticked off in a handful of minutes.
E15 → E7
Our first postcode triple point is at the southeastern corner of West Ham Park. Half the Ornamental Gardens (plus Portway) are in E15, the other half (plus Upton Lane) are in E6. Trying to follow this by reading streetsigns bolted to walls and railings isn't always easy. This crossroads was once known as Upton Cross, back when a handful of houses formed the hamlet of Upton close by, but terraces for 19th century workers soon replaced fields with an amorphous residential grid.
We follow Plashet Road east - the easiest part of the entire walk to navigate. A huge gurdwara presents a warehouse-like facade on one side, a block of flats replaces an unnecessary pub on the other. Much of the street is lined by small shops, providing several opportunities to select neatly-arranged fruit and veg from rows of labelled boxes. All kinds of grilled food are available, or normally are, from takeaways with Deliveroo accounts in lieu of websites. Carpets are easier to obtain than croissants. Chain stores expressed no interest.
E7 → E6
The switch from Forest Gate to East Ham comes outside the Post Office on Green Street. This is by far the busiest street on the postcode boundary, bustlingwise, now the retail heart of a thriving Asian community. There are long queues for the bank (E6) if not for the jewellers (E7). Upton Park is E13's second tube station, but only because its entrance is on the western side of the road. Queen's Market is open for the sale of mostly food, including exotic vegetables and recently-slaughtered meat, beneath a variety of jarringly postwar canopies. One Pound Fish Man no longer works here. [photo]
Green Street was once the dividing line between the boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, which is precisely why the two sides of the road have different postcodes. But one rectangular chunk of East Ham still has the 'wrong' postcode because it's where West Ham football ground used to stand. Upton Park stadium was demolishedin 2017, and pitch and stands have now (mostly) been replaced with tediously vernacular brick flats, but the private road through the development still bears an anachronistic E13 designation.
The dividing line continues past the World Cup statue down Boundary Road. It's well named. By the time it reaches the Greenway it's been downgraded to Boundary Lane, for buses and hospital traffic only, because Newham General is squished into the corner of the postcode. It then downgrades again to a minor footpath, as it has been since all of this was undeveloped Plaistow Marshes. The path ends abruptly at the A13, now a thundering dual carriageway and the site of our next postcode triple point.
E6 → E16
The walk alongside the arterial is not pleasant so Newham have provided a parallel alleyway overlooked by a broken CCTV camera. This eventually emerges into the grounds of Newham Leisure Centre, a recreational facility from the warehouse school of architecture, whose car park is much busier than current lockdown rules would suggest. From here the boundary follows Chadwin Road, then bulges slightly to encompass the end of Cumberland Road. It was here at number 200, in a villa of finer standing than its neighbours, that actress Honor Blackman was born. I doubt there was a Porsche parked outside in her time, but 007's girl once lived in E13 in the last house before the A13. [photo]
Beyond New Barn Street the postcode boundary becomes contorted again, encompassing the tower block at Stubbs Point but not Star Lane and all points south. Walking the edge of E13 hereabouts involves a lot of doubling back, for example to take in Ohio Road but avoid Chargeable Street, confirming that this is not a rational journey anyone should be making. All you need to do now is keep the recreation ground on your left and the convent on your right and before long you'll be approaching the final triple point at the end of Grange Road.
E16 → E15
E13, E15 and E16 merge silently outside the local chippy. But the Grange is under new management - a team are currently ripping the insides out - and exterior signage suggests they intend to pivot from Fish/Kebab/Chicken/Sausage/Burger/Pizza to Doner/Burger/Wrap/Chicken Grill. Such is progress. To continue you'll have to take a hike across Memorial Recreation Ground because the cemetery has no back gate, then climb the new steps to cross the Greenway. Expect to hear the announcements at Plaistow station long before you reach the entrance, especially now Newham have blocked off the car park to build a 23-storey tower.
Which brings us back to where we started, with E13 fully circumnavigated. Maybe don't try this where you live.
